1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to methods and compositions for maintaining and improving gastrointestinal health and particularly to using novel food compositions for maintaining and improving gastrointestinal health.
2. Description of the Related Art
Animals need good gastrointestinal health for their ordinary well being but, unfortunately, poor gastrointestinal health is common. Poor gastrointestinal health can be quite serious and may require medical attention. Poor gastrointestinal health results from various causes that may produce diarrhea, poor stool quality, or other symptoms. Further, animals must efficiently and properly digest food to maintain good gastrointestinal health. However, poor gastrointestinal health interferes with the ordinary food digestion and adversely affects an animal's health and wellness.
Many gastrointestinal disorders are accompanied by diarrhea, a loose watery stool that can be extremely unpleasant to an animal or its caregiver. Many methods for combating diarrhea are known in the art. For example, US20070166295A1 discloses compositions for treating diarrhea in small domestic animals such as dogs and cats. The compositions contain kaolin, pectin, and probiotics. U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,798 discloses methods for treating diarrhea using methylamine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,001 discloses compositions for the treatment of diarrhea comprising carrots, rice, bananas and glucose in powdered form. U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,807 discloses using histidine for treating or preventing infectious and non-infectious diarrheas. U.S. Pat. No. 6,926,891 discloses the treatment of diarrhea with strains of Bifidobacterium longum. U.S. Pat. No. 6,835,376 discloses using Lactobacillus paracasei for preventing diarrhea caused by pathogenic bacteria. US20050260170A1 discloses using Bifidobacteria for preventing diarrhea caused by pathogenic bacteria. U.S. Pat. No. 6,998,119 discloses a feed composition containing Bifidobacterium bacteria capable of preventing diarrhea. US20070248582A1 discloses using lactic bacteria for the prevention of diarrhea. Similarly, poor stool quality is often indicative of milder forms of poor gastrointestinal health that do not result in diarrhea.
Current methods for maintaining and improving gastrointestinal health often involve modifying the diet, administering various foods thought to effect gastrointestinal health, or administering various drugs thought to be useful for maintaining or improving gastrointestinal health. These methods, while useful, have not solved the problem. There is, therefore, a need for new methods and compositions for maintaining and improving gastrointestinal health in an animal.